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Day 14: Theodore Roosevelt National Park

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Another North American Road Trip Day 14 Thursday, July 2nd As is our regular travel routine, we ate breakfast at the hotel. This morning I was pleasantly surprised to find a non dairy milk option so that I could enjoy a bowl of cereal. This is the first stop on our trip that has provided that. So, way to go, Montana!  We drove 54 minutes to Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  At the Visitor Center, we let the ranger at the desk know we had a few hours to spend in the park and asked what we should do. “Do everything!” She suggested enthusiastically. She let us know that the scenic drive around the park would take about an hour and a half and there would be overlooks and wildlife. Then she pointed out a few very short hikes that she recommended as we made our way around. One of which went through a prairie dog village. We took our map, and Desmond took his Junior Ranger booklet, and out the door we went.  It was amusing to start the scenic drive with Desmond doing his Junior...
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Day 13: Wind Cave and Jewel Cave

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Another North American Road Trip Day 13 Wednesday, July 1st We woke up, all having slept well (thank you, Jesus!) and had a hodge podge breakfast of summer sausage, berries, and oatmeal.  We broke camp. As he helped get his things ready to go, Desmond was, uncharacteristically, wandering around barefoot.    When shoes were suggested, he indicated that he wanted to toughen up his feet, because enemies would often burn the shoes of warriors. (And he apparently wants to be ready for such a possibility?) We drove the three minutes or so back over to the visitor center and got our paper tickets (we had purchased them much earlier online through the Recreation.gov app while planning the trip).    We waited outside for the tour to begin.  We began our tour at the Natural Entrance (thus the name of the tour) where the ranger told the emergence story of the Lakota people, who believe that the first humans came into the world through the small opening which, in their...
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Day 12: National Monuments in Nebraska

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Another North American Road Trip Day 12 Tuesday, June 30th I woke up cold around 3AM. But I didn’t realize I was cold until I was fully awake when I visited the restroom at 4AM and felt the heat coming out of the heater in there. My feet and nose were persistently cold. I put on all the layers of clothes I had and dozed on and off.  We opted for a Starbucks breakfast. We broke camp and drive five miles to a Starbucks. We each chose a hot breakfast sandwich (ham and cheese croissants for the boys) and had a hot chocolate to go with it. Boy that tasted good.  Before we were very far down the road the temperature had risen about 20 degrees and we were shedding our warm layers. We found a Costco to gas up the cruck.  We kept driving down the road spotting pronghorn through the grasslands. Bryan had also spotted three elk right near the road, so that was fun.  We arrived a few hours later at Scott’s Bluff National Monument, which Desmond and Bryan recognized from the Oreg...
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